Bridge to Terabithia Transformation Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

It was Leslie who had taken him from the cow pasture into Terabithia and turned him into a king. […] After you stayed for a while and grew strong you had to move on. For hadn't Leslie, even in Terabithia, tried to push back the walls of his mind and make him see beyond to the shining world--huge and terrible and beautiful and very fragile? (13.59)

Finally, Jess realizes that transformations themselves are temporary and keep evolving. In order to honor how Leslie changed him, he has to, in turn, keep on changing. It's not enough to do some growing and then stop. You have to keep doing it, keep challenging yourself, and keep pushing "beyond to the shining world." (It's sort of like how the narrator in Tennyson's poem "Ulysses" also wants to seek a better world: see our section on "Ulysses" for more.)